Fox's Rove Pushes Myth About Obamacare And Part-Time Jobs

Fox News' Karl Rove falsely claimed that the Affordable Care Act is fueling an increase in part-time jobs, despite the fact that economists have found no evidence to support that notion.

Appearing on the August 30 edition of America's Newsroom to comment on the "consequences of Obamacare," Rove claimed that "one of the big consequences" of the Affordable Care Act is the creation of "more part-time jobs in the place of full-time jobs."

Contrary to Rove's claim, economists agree[1] that the health care law is not causing an increase in part-time work.

If the ACA's employer mandate were distorting hiring practices in the way critics claim, we'd expect the share of involuntary part-timers to be growing. Instead, it is down about one percentage point off of its peak.

After previously suggesting[3] that the law may cause part-time job growth, Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, said[4] recently that such a trend is "not there":

As more data come in, the law's impact can't be seen in hiring statistics, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics.

"I was expecting to see it. I was looking for it, and it's not there,'' says Zandi, whose firm manages ADP's surveys of overall private-sector job creation. If the Affordable Care Act "were causing a drop, you would see meaningful slowing.''

Fox has been aggressive in its efforts[5] to fearmonger about the Affordable Care Act, even inventing[6] a conspiracy theory that the clothing chain Forever 21 was intimidated into silence over the consequences of the law.